Manager charged with raping employee at Put-in-Bay

PORT CLINTON – A manager at a Put-in-Bay bar on Thursday denied raping one of his employees after a day of drinking May 4 on South Bass Island.

Chris Blessing, 32, Port Clinton, pleaded not guilty to two felony counts of rape during a video arraignment in Ottawa County Common Pleas Court.

A grand jury secretly indicted Blessing on the charges Wednesday.

Judge Bruce Winters set a $100,000 bail for Blessing and ordered that he not serve alcohol while out on bail, which his attorney said would inhibit his ability to do his job because he tends bar and manages Mr. Ed's Bar and Grill at Put-in-Bay.

Blessing is charged with raping the woman after the pair visited four island bars together, according to a Put-in-Bay police report. She told authorities she did not remember what happened until 2:30 a.m., when she woke up and Blessing was on top of her, according to the report.

Blessing's attorney, Tom DeBacco of Port Clinton, said the pair had consensual sex and that the woman drank voluntarily with Blessing. People told them to "get a room," DeBacco said.

"One witness said she saw them that whole day at three bars on the island 'eating face' and that this woman's lipstick was all over (Blessing's) brow," DeBacco said. "They were together all day."

The woman had told investigators she thought she might have been drugged, but she did not seek treatment until the following day, long after any potential drugs would be out of her system, Detective Amanda Cross told the News Herald in July. Cross said the case was not being investigated as as drugging.

"He didn't slip her anything," DeBacco said.

Ottawa County Prosecutor Mark Mulligan said the woman and Cross testified before a grand jury, and the jurors felt there was evidence to indict Blessing on the charges.

Initially, the woman declined to press charges because she didn't want to lose her job, according to the Put-in-Bay police report. A nurse at a hospital reported the allegations to Put-in-Bay police after the woman sought treatment and told staff she had been raped, according to the report.

The woman then chose to pursue the case.

"My client is innocent," DeBacco said. "Chris Blessing is a gentleman. A lot of girls like him because he's a gentleman."